Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications
Open Access

Energy balance of oil recovery process using liquefied dimethyl ether

International Congress and Expo on Biofuels & Bioenergy

August 25- 27, 2015 Valencia, Spain

Kiyoshi Sakuragi1, Peng Li1, Nobuo Aoki2, Iwao Ueda2, Maromu Ohtaka1 and Hisao Makino1

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Fundam Renewable Energy Appl

Abstract :

An energy-efficient and low-cost process for recovering oil from microalgae is needed for the production of algal biofuels.
Here, CRIEPI and JX investigate a novel hybrid oil recovery method using dimethyl ether (DME) and hexane (DH method)
from algae. Moreover, to evaluate the energy consumption of the DH method, CRIEPI and JX made a conceptual design of a
practical plant using DH method. In the DH method, wet Euglena gracilis cells were placed into a vessel, mixed with liquefied
DME, and shaken at room temperature (20°C). After 5 min of shaking, wet E. gracilis cells were mixed with hexane and shaken
at 20°C for 5 min. After evaporating DME, the hexane layer was separated from the water layer. Approximately 80% of the total
oil was recovered in the hexane layer when the DME: hexane: wet algae ratio was 12:4:1. Based on the lab-scale experiments, the
total operational energy of this DH method was estimated to be about 27.1 MJ per kg oil. Compared with the conventional oil
extraction process from dry algae, this process offers significant advantages for oil recovery. However, approximately 76% of the
total energy was consumed by the compressor during DME condensation. Therefore, the reduction of the DME consumption is
key technology for successful operation of the DH method.

Biography :

Kiyoshi Sakuragi was born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1986. He received his B.E. and M.Tech. Degrees in Forest Chemistry from the University of Tokyo, Japan, in 2009
and 2011, respectively, and he is a doctoral student at the University of Tokyo, Japan, from 2015. In 2011, he joined Central Research Institute of Electric Power
Industry as a research associate. His current research interests include biomass utilization in bio-oil production, carbonization, and enzymatic saccharification.